The Ontario government has set a new record. But don’t go rushing to your phone to call the good folk at Guinness just yet, as the record the liberals have set is bringing us the biggest deficit in the history of our province:

The $24.7-billion deficit figure was blamed on a 48.1 per cent drop in corporate tax revenues - which amounted to a $5.8-billion loss in provincial revenue. At the same time, the government is increasing its expenditures by $4.8 billion to $113.7 billion amid further investments in skills training, the auto sector, and health care.

Notice how a $5.8 billion loss accounts for the majority of the blame on a $25 billion dollar deficit. The EXTRA $4.8 billion in increased expenditures had NOTHING to do with it. As for the other unaccounted 15 billion, well, who knows who’s to blame for that. Probably Mike Harris.

Finance Minister Dwight Duncan and company intend to slay the deficit dragon though, but it will take some serious work and a lot of cutting:

That will mean belt-tightening in other areas, said Duncan, although he’s not ready to specify what cuts, if any, are planned.

“We want to have a long, hard look at how we deliver programs and services,” Duncan said.

“We will call on our partners in the public and the broader public sector to help us sustain public services in the long term.”

(the liberals)…said they will go ahead with a plan for full-day kindergarten for four and five year olds, to be announced later this month.

So our Finance Minister with the Scottish name (the only Scotsman who isn’t frugal, BTW - what are the chances of that?) has decided that we must cut back. We have to tighten our belts. And how are we going to do that? Simple: by creating a billion dollar program consisting of full-day kindergarten classes for four and five year olds. And before you say anything, I know, IT’S ALL ABOUT THE CHILDREN!

Moving on. The liberals have been a little behind the 8 ball this last year in their predictions on how big our deficit was going to be. Let’s recap that, shall we?

The Liberals originally predicted their books would be balanced when they tabled their 2008 budget, which included an $800-million contingency fund and boasted that “there was no danger” of falling into deficit.

Last October, Duncan signalled an end to the days of balanced books when he said a $500-million shortfall was expected for fiscal 2008-09 - a figure that actually came in at $6.4 billion.

The figures in Thursday’s fall economic statement also represent a dramatic leap in deficit projections for 2009-10, from the $14.1-billion forecast in the March budget and the revised June prediction of $18.5 billion.

Let’s face it, they were awfully close. They predicted a balanced budget and only missed it by $25 BILLION dollars.

But you can always count on the liberals to make the hard choices. Seeing as though we are now crippled with debt, I’m sure Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty will do the right thing. Which, given McGuinty’s history can only mean one thing: He will mandate bigger warning labels on cigarette packs and ban drinking coffee in cars.

Seeing as though the liberals have governed so well over the last 5 ish years the have been in power, let’s recap a few of the gems they have imparted on us:

• A scandal over $32 million in grants to multicultural groups has cost Ontario Immigration and Citizenship Minister Mike Colle his job and jolted Premier Dalton McGuinty’s government…
• Mired in scandal and having already claimed two bureaucrats and one cabinet minister, the eHealth fiasco, “flushed 1 billion precious health-care dollars down the toilet with nothing to show for it.”
• provincial government casinos haven’t made a profit on operations since 2006. They lost $94 million last year, after the province skimmed some money off the top. Despite that, the government is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on expanding a casino in Finance Minister Dwight Duncan’s Windsor riding. Inexplicably, the lottery corporation is also building an $81-million power plant there. Pork is traditional in Canadian politics, but this is the whole hog.
• It was 2005, when we began hearing rumours of “insider” wins and lottery sellers collecting a disproportionate share of winnings; in some cases, ripping off customers.The ugly truth was revealed through an independent probe launched by Ontario’s Ombudsman, Andre Marin. His report revealed that millions had been paid out to unscrupulous retailers, stating “confidence in our lotteries is shattered.”

But dontchu worry, good times are right around the corner. For instance, next July, Ontario residents will be paying an extra 7% on just about everything, as Dalton and gang are harmonizing the GST/PST. Although it has been called *the biggest tax increase in the HISTORY of Ontario*, I’m sure the people saying that are just a bunch of negative Nellies. They have to learn to turn their frowns upside down. Make a negative a positive. L

For instance, don’t look at it like 250,000 Ontario citizens lost their jobs this year, look at it like 250,000 Ontario citizens have more time to spend with their families and friends now

Yup, keep voting the liberals in. They are the party of the people!

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 5:49 pm and is filed under Liberals, Monarchy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.